Tales Behind the Tombstones is a delightful collection of short biographies of colorful figures from the Old West, including desperadoes such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James, prostitutes (or "soiled doves") such as Julia Bulette, women's rights activists, sheriffs, and others. The language is lively and engaging and there are numerous black and white photos of these individuals and in many cases of their gravestones. It was fascinating to read about these individuals' very unusual and exciting lives. Definitely recommend!
This sounds like a lot of fun to read. But the begs-to-be-answered question that is not even addressed in this review is....how on earth did you run across this book?
ReplyDeleteActually, I have a guess: I think you should add "Albuquerque Airport Bookstore" to your extensive list of tags.
ReplyDeletehaha no, i got it at the very cute Taos bookstore Moby Dickens http://www.mobydickens.com/
ReplyDeleteMoby Dickens has a lot of books about the U.S. Southwest and its colorful history. It's always one of our first stops in Taos (although to Colin's consternation, there are now two resident cats).
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be a real shame if independent bookstores have survived the onslaught of megastores like Barnes & Noble or Borders, only to be driven out of business by eBooks! It might be possible to search for books you will like more effectively online than in a store, but nothing can beat the pleasure of browsing in an interesting bookstore. Hope I have a chance to visit Moby Dickens!
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